Resources for Safe Water, Hygiene and Sanitation

In order to provide more comprehensive and meaningful search results on
our site, several reports
are available for viewing and download directly from this web site. Kindly visit the main
sites of the author organisations for more complete and updated information.We acknowledge our gratitude to the many people and sources whose work
has been drawn freely upon. We thank them all.

Author: UNICEF, WHO, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNDP, UNAIDS, WFP and the World Bank
Publication date: April 2010
Languages: English French Spanish

The fourth edition of Facts for Life contains essential information that
families and communities need to know to raise healthy children. This
handbook provides practical advice on pregnancy, childbirth, childhood
illnesses, child development and the care of children. This edition also
features a new chapter on child protection. The book is intended for
parents, families, health workers, teachers, youth groups, women’s groups,
community organizations, government officials, employers, trade unions,
media, and non-governmental and faith-based organizations.

14 October, 2009 -
New UNICEF/WHO Report Focuses Attention on Diarrheal Disease—the Second Leading Killer of Children Under 5—and Outlines 7-point Plan to Control This
Preventable and Treatable Illness

The report highlights the proven diarrheal disease prevention and treatment solutions already available today. Many children in the developing world
cannot access urgent medical care for severe illnesses, making prevention methods—including improved hygiene, sanitation, safe drinking water,
exclusive breastfeeding, and vaccines preventing rotavirus—critical components of diarrheal disease control. When diarrhea occurs, it can be
effectively treated with simple solutions, including oral rehydration therapy/oral rehydration solution, zinc and other micronutrients, and continued feeding.

Progress For Children: A Report Card on Water and Sanitation
Number 5, September 2006 - UNICEF

Unsafe water and the lack of basic sanitation and adequate hygiene contribute to
the leading killers of children under five, including diarrhoeal diseases,
pneumonia and undernutrition, and have implications for whether children,
especially girls, attend school. This means that achieving Millennium
Development Goal 7 and its 2015 targets of reducing by half the proportion of
people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation
are of vital relevance for children and for improving nutrition, education and
women's status. Progress for Children: A Report Card on Water and Sanitation
will report on whether the world is on course to reach MDG 7 – and where efforts
are falling short.

How to turn unsafe water into drinkable water

Step 1If necessary: Remove particles
To remove contamination with solid particles pre-filter the unsafe water with a
piece of cloth or a coffee filter. This method does not remove micro-organism. You still have to disinfect with heat or chemicals.

Step 2a
If possible: Disinfection with heat
Sufficient heat will kill micro-organisms in contaminated water already at a temperature below the boiling point. During the time needed to reach boiling
point the water is heated long enough for disinfection. There is no need to boil water for 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or 20 minutes, as some guide books recommend!

Step 2b
If heat is impossible: Chemical Disinfection

A) With IodineIodine has advantages over chlorine in convenience and efficacy; and the taste
is less offensive. It is safe for short and intermediate length use (3-6 months), but questions remain about its safety in long-term usage. It should not
be used by persons with allergy to iodine, persons with active thyroid disease, or pregnant women. When the iodine is added to the water leave the preparation
for 30 minutes in clear weather or 60 minutes in cloudy weather.

Table of available Iodine preparations:

Iodine Preparations

Amount/Liter

Iodine Topical Solution 2%

8 drops

Iodine Tincture 2%

8 drops

Lugol's Solution 5%

4 drops

Povidone-Iodine (Betadine�) 10%

4 drops

Tetraglycine hydroperiodide (Globaline�, Potable Aqua�, EDWGT�) 8 mg

1 tablet

B) With chlorine
Any common brand of liquid chlorine bleach contains 5-6 % sodium hypochlorite.
For 1 liter of unsafe water use 4 drops chlorine and wait 30 minutes. For 20 liters of water add 80 drops (1 tablespoon or 5 ml) chlorine. Measuring by drops
is more accurate and the preferred method. When the chlorine is added to the water leave the preparation for 30 minutes in clear weather or 60 minutes in
cloudy weather.

WHO |
Water Sanitation & Health
WHO Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) series.
This series focuses on health related
goals, indicators, and targets. The one page MDG flyers focusing on water and sanitation,
highlighting Goal 7 are now available inEnglish, French and Spanish: These are:

Water is essential for life. Yet many millions of people around the
world face water shortages. Many millions of children die every year from
water-borne diseases. And drought regularly afflicts some of the world’s
poorest countries. The world needs to respond much better. We need to
increase water efficiency, especially in agriculture. We need to free
women and girls from the daily chore of hauling water, often over great
distances. We must involve them in decision-making on water management. We
need to make sanitation a priority. This is where progress is lagging
most.

WHO produces international norms on water quality and human health in the
form of guidelines that are used as the basis for regulation and standard
setting, in developing and developed countries world-wide.

Water,
Sanitation and Health
WHO works on aspects of water, sanitation and hygiene where the health
burden is high, where interventions could make a major difference and
where the present state of knowledge is poor:

In adopting the Millennium Development Goals that address the most pressing development issues, countries pledged to halve the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Yet, more than 1 billion people today lack safe drinking water, and some 2.6 billion - half of the developing world - lack improved sanitation. This publication reports on our progress towards the MDG goal of ensuring environmental sustainability. It seeks to encourage countries slow to meet the target to accelerate action, and highlights areas where efforts need to be strengthened in order to meet the goal.

Water Facts: The Big Picture
A statistical view of the world's water - BBC
News

World's
water hot spots
From disappearing lakes and dwindling rivers to military threats over shared
resources, water is a cause for deep concern in many parts of the world.
Supplies are threatened by overuse, bad management and changing weather
patterns. The pressure will only increase as populations grow.